Blue Ridge Boys Basketball Scrimmage: Blue 40, White 35

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Three days before their season opener, the Knights held a Blue and White scrimmage for one last tune-up.

In a game that Blue Ridge coach Kyle Watson said was "a bit shaky at times," Tucker Johnson (pictured below in black jersey) led the Blue team with 15 points en route to a 40-35 victory over the White team.

"You want to have a game like tonight, so you can get the kinks worked out a little bit," Watson said. "We did some good things tonight; we also had some things we need to work on. We'll have practice tomorrow. We'll come get those things corrected, and hopefully be ready to go by Monday night."

Johnson, a 6-foot-4 senior forward who is the Knights' only returning varsity player from last year, scored the first of his 15 points via 3-pointer. He also hit a shot from the perimeter in the first half to give the Blue team a 21-10 lead.

"He's going to be a guy, hopefully this year, [who will] have some mismatches," Watson said. "When he came up as a sophomore, he was more of an outside player. [Johnson] had a great run in the postseason [last year] during the three-point contest. He really showed that he can hit that shot, and he's worked hard on that shot this summer, so he's doing a great job."

Johnson also showed his ability to score in the paint, giving the Blue team a 15-10 lead by driving to the lane for a left-handed layup and a 17-10 lead with a hook shot.

"Last year, he played inside and had a real nice year for us," Watson said. "If there's a situation where he has some smalls on him, then maybe he can go down and post the small up," Watson said. "If he has some bigs on him, he can take that big out and get a nice shot on it."

For the White team, center Travys Nichols (pictured above) scored 14 points to lead his team. Jon Jones added nine points.

Blue Ridge will open its season on Monday, playing in its first game of the Gibson-City-Melvin-Sibley Thanksgiving Tournament against Tri-Point at 5 p.m.

"I'd much rather see [the mistakes] in a game like this than in a game Monday night," Watson said.

Meanwhile, the Blue team also won the junior varsity scrimmage, beating the White team 41-18.

BLUE RIDGE BOYS BASKETBALL ROSTER

No.    Name    Height    Weight    Position    Year

2    Trenor Hildreth    5'9"    180    Forward    12

4    Michael Plunk    6'2"    155    Guard    10

10    Mark Plunk    6'1"    155    Forward    11

12    Will Duggins    6'0"    160    Guard    10

14    Dylan Grammer    5'10"    145    Guard    9

20    Jon Jones    6'1"    160    Guard    11

22    Johnney Bruden     5'8"    175    Guard    11

30    C.J. Bishop    5'10"    140    Guard    11

32    Daniel Gilbert    6'3"    165    Forward    11

34    Clint O' Neal    6'3"    190    Forward    10

40    Travys Nichols    6'4"    175    Center    11

44    Tucker Johnson    6'4"    170    Forward    12    

16    Matt White